Afghanistan’s, the surprising package of the tournament, will play against South Africa. The regular dark horses in the first semi-final of T20 World Cup at Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
Their journey to the semifinals has been nothing short of miraculous as they have risen above all difficulties related to their homeland’s ongoing conflict. They demonstrated their resilience and determination by beating defending champions Australia. Who had never lost to them before in this competition.
Many players have contributed to this success for Afghanistan’s. Throughout this tournament captain Rashid Khan has kept his outstanding form and bowlers. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq with batsman Rahamanullah Gurbaz have been consistently providing early breakthroughs.
Gurbaz tops batting chart with 281 runs. Whereas Farooqi sits on top of bowling list with 16 wickets behind some major names in the competition.
Gulbadin Naib’s wonders against Australians and Mohammad Nabi’s continued effort were pivotal to this success.
Notably, since it rose from cricketing lower ranks in early 2000s Afghanistan’s has become accustomed to fierce contests. Their chances lie within Twenty-twenty format as it provides them an opportunity to take on some well-established cricket powers than any other version of the game. However, this is uncharted territory for them When they get into a semifinal match of a world cup. Hence they must learn how to manage nerves if they are going overcome tough challenges.
Jonathan Trott’s experience as a coach means he is not fazed by big games such as semifinal matches.
“Going into tomorrow’s match What I meant was that we’ve not played enough international cricket yet. because there is no history or scarring,” said Trott. “It will be interesting to see how we go, but there is no doubt that our aim was not just getting into it and being happy that we’re there but trying desperately to win it. We have beaten some great sides,” he said after their win over Bangladesh.
South Africa’s wounds are deep but they are cricket-only inflicted.
Despite having had power-packed teams since their return to international cricket in 1991. South Africa has never made it to the final round of either a T20 or 50-over World Cup.
It therefore takes more than taming Afghanistan’s for the rainbow nation to rewrite this perennial story of ill-luck and conquer inner demons that haunt South Africans. There is reason for optimism so far.
And in this tournament, they have shown a knack for winning when it counts most. An Achilles’ heel that has often raised its head unawares at previous global competitions.
But even then in this case we won by only one run (vs Nepal), four runs (vs Bangladesh) and three wickets (vs West Indies).
The old South Africa would have crumbled under such circumstances, but Aiden Markram’s team has shown remarkable character. They appear not to be burdened anymore by the “chokers” cliché.
Keshav Maharaj, experienced left-arm spinner speaks about his team performance in this World Cup.
“Now if you look at all the world cups before that we’ve played small moments which we haven’t won. All the games being really close is good because then there’s always going to be a way that we find ourselves on top so it is all about building character within our side,” Maharaj said.
We get set for some chances, which we may crossover the edge in those tiny moments. This is something we have not done before. So great to witness us getting into that.
The South African team has shown a united effort in the tournament as pointed out in Temba Bavuma’s statement. South Africa has only managed Quinton de Kock. Who is at number six with 199 runs from seven matches on the top-10 batters’ list and does not have any bowlers at all among the ten best performers. Therefore, what they need now is to navigate through tricky moments against Afghanistan’s so as to make it to the final.
However, this time around, the South African team may be less afraid of such challenges. Moreover, if Afghanistan’s can keep its cool under high-pressure circumstances also. Then it will be an epic match that people would remember for years.
